omfg

Ok. So as my user info page states, I post a lot. And I post a lot about how fucking cute my cat is. I can't help it! Also, am really bored. And snapping webshots of my cat is more exciting than my current project.

I'm trying to work this morning, and he stubbornly insists on wedging himself between my body and the keyboard (k-ebkac?) and nuzzling my face. It's too cute not to share. He's not a traditional cuddler. He's generally as cranky and independent a beast as I am. But first thing in the morning, when I'm desperately trying to focus my vision, there he is. All fur and purrs and ears.

It's a nice way to start the morning!

( Behold the cuteness. )

mmm

Today I will:
Go to Kinkos and get passport pictures taken.
Go to passport office and pick up application.
Drop off Netflix dvds.
Work out.
Begin writing the accursed user guide thing.

Tomorrow I will:
Go to Post Office to mail insured passport paperwork.
Pick up ingredients for Taco Soup.
Run around Greenlake with devinluvsrussia.

relying on the kindness of strangers

Set out to complete my errands. Must remember that parking often involves parking meters, which requires change that is not pennies, and must not continue to rely on benevolence of meters with time left on them. Fifteen minutes barely got me through my errands, lucky once again.

Kinkos was out of their photo-paper stuff, but kindly recommended Ballard Photo which was just down the block. It seems to be a family owned store, complete with squalling child and toys strewn about the place, but they were nice and the whole process took 5 minutes. So big yay to that. Of course I look like a weasel in my pictures, but that's part of the government standard requirement of starkly lit, horribly angled passport photos, so I don't particularly give a damn.

Next to Ballard Neighborhood Center for the application. People like the woman who helped me are what give customer service a good name. She was friendly, informative, and efficient. She gave me the form, went over it briefly with me to explain that I could in fact save the $30 City of Seattle fee if I met a short list of criteria (yay, I do) and just mailed in my passport. I'd been hoping to avoid mailing in my passport because my US Citizenship was largely acquired by coming to this country diaper-clad, and having my parents do the hard part as first generation immigrants. I have no other proof that I am a legal citizen beyond my passport, since I don't have naturalization papers. So I brought up my concerns about this with her, and she had all kinds of suggestions and solutions (including photocopying my passport and mailing it certified). Once this passport returns to me (stamped invalid), I'll have it as a backup, should my official, renewed passport ever be stolen or lost.

Still feeling very apprehensive about leaving the country. Even for a trip to someplace as innocuous as Canada. My passport still shares the information that I was born in Pakistan and being questioned by the FBI once, solely based on my last name, after 9/11 was more than enough. Perhaps my fears are irrational, but I imagine they're here to stay until I get back to the states.

Anyhow, thanks to the nice lady at the passport office, I now don't have to rush before work tomorrow (to accommodate their brief window of service from 9am-1230pm), but can simply go to the post office after work. If I actually manage to do this, nothing will be greater proof of my desire to travel, since I hate going to the post office with the heat of a nova (c.f. Amy getting her Christmas scarf in May and only because her parents visited me).

On the way home, driving down Market Street, noticed some bizarre sights. Lots of kids piling out of cars in band uniforms. People lining the street with folding chairs. Um. Enh? I was utterly confused. Turned up 24th to find more of the same. QFC was packed with an abnormal number of people for an early Monday evening. Curiously, I asked my checkout guy wtf was up. He explained to me that May 17th marks some Norwegian thingie and they have a parade every year. Huh. Hilarious. Drove carefully, avoiding squishing small children and made it home quite content.